Ethnobotanical Studies in North-East India

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North-east India is represented by seven Indian states, namely Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura often referred to as the Seven Sisters. North-East India is a biodiversity hotspot and has a rich endemism. It has been considered as the cradle of flowering plants and thehabitat of wild relatives of cultivated plants. This region has a rich heritage of herbal remedies with many of its rural population still depending on them. There are countless plants here which has ethno botanical values against many types of diseases. However, many of these traditional knowledge remains confined to a particular tribe or a confined region. A further study of the ethnobotanical study of this region is therefore needed to promote the traditional knowledge for the benefit of a wider population. This book is the outcome of a symposium intended to represent the North Eastern States, bringing together the knowledge and experiences of not just academicians but also people from all walks of life including forest officers, scientists, pharmaceuticals and herbal practitioners to document the medicinal plants wealth of the region with external input from national research institutions and laboratories. We hope that the book provide valuable information on the traditional knowledge regarding medicinal plants and serves as a reference for future ethnobotanical study in the region.

PROF. H. LALRAMNGHINGLOVA (b.1954) rendered teaching experience in Lunglei Govt. College for ten years. Thence after, he joined the State Environment, Forests & Climate change as Forest Botanist for 1 years and then Joined Mizoram University as Reader in 2003 and became a professor in 2005. He held the post of Head of the Department of Environmental Science for three terms and Dean of the School of Earth Sciences and Natural Resources Management in Mizoram (Central) University, Aizawl. He has organised various regional, national and International seminars and workshops and completed seven research projects under UGC, MOEF&CC, ICFRE, DBT, DST and GBPIHD. He has published more than 60 research papers and 5 books. He has been awarded ICFRE Cash-award and Certificate on outstanding contribution to research in the field of Non-Wood Forest Products for the year 1999-2000 and Silvers Jubilee Medal award of the Society of Ethnobotanists in 2014. He has been an expert member in various capacity of biodiversity conservation/wetland conservation at the State level. He has been the Advisor of Science & Technology Joumal of Mizoram University, Abul He has also conducted plantation programmes every year in Mizoram University since 2003 till his superannuation retirement on 28th February, 2019. He has been awarded a HAG grade in 2018. He has produced 15 PhDs during his tenure in Mizoram University in the fields of ethnobotany, medicinal plants, wetland & biodiversity in the protected areas of Mizoram.

DR. LALNUNTLUANGA (6.1975) MSc (Forestry) First class first, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Environmental Science, Mizoram University and is currently holding the esteemed position of Controller of Examinations of Mizoram University. He was the Dean Students Welfare, Mizoram University and Former Head of Department of Environmental Science, Mizoram University. He has guided eight PhD researchers successfully. He has 25 publications in National and International reputed journals.

DR. S.T. LALZARZOVI (b.1981) MSc (Environmental Science), Ph.D joined the Department of Soil and Water Conservation, Govt. of Mizoram as Assistant Soil Conservation Officer in 2011 and worked there for two years. She then joined as Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Science, Mizoram University in 2013 where she is currently working.

Ethnobotanical studies emerged when JanakiaAmal introduced the subject in the economic section of the Botanical Survey of India Allahabad in 1957 and was taken over by Dr.S.K.Jain (so called Father of the Indian Ethnobotany) in the 1960's in India. The Society of Ethnobotanists was constituted at the National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI), Lucknow in 1980 and the society brought out a reputed half-yearly periodical Journal of Ethnobotany published by Deep Publications, Lucknow. Various articles have been contributed by different workers from around the world and the Indian workers on ethno- botanical importance of the region and volumes of the Journal have been published since then.

The plant-people relationship can be traced back to the garden of Eden (somewhere in modern Iraq) when God gave Adam and Eve the flora and fauna of the garden to manage and eat .When Columbus discovered America (Bahamas) in 1492 and he arrived in Cuba, he saw the Cuban people using tobacco, Zea mays and Gossipium spp. (Hobhouse, 1992). The anthropological activities carried out also recognized the use of plants by indigenous people in Southwest America in the 1870's. WHO has encourgared the third world countries to use traditional medicines which have been used for a long time as they have proved to be efficient and effective with 80% of the population relying on them. China is the leading country to practice herbal medicines and India comes second in the world. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India has recently set up a separate Ministry of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) to replace the Indian System of Medicine (ISM) and an autonomous body of National Medicinal Plants Board, New Delhi was set up by the GOI in 2000 along with State Medicinal Plants Board subsequently. The Central and State Governments initiative amounts to the promotion of medicinal plants towards the synthesis and discovery of new drugs on ethnobotanical leads. India being recognized as the 12-megadiversity country and biodiversity hotspot owing to the species richness of the Western Ghats and North East India coupled with the ethnobio-rich culture of the two regions in general, and the North East India, in particular, organization of the symposium for the region at the national level is worthwhile. Hence, the National Symposium on Ethnobotanical Importance in the North East India was organized and held at Mizoram University, Aizawl on 13th-15th October 2015.

North East India has been considered as the cradle of flowering plants and habitat of wild relatives and endemic species. There are a number of native wild edible plants, cultivars and landraces, edible fruits and tubers, fibres and flosses, bamboo and canes and palms, gum and resins, wrappers and platters, fodder and forages, religion and beliefs, sacred grooves and taboos. However, the plant wealth of North-East India has not yet been explored satisfactorily compared to the Western Ghats. This can be taken as a challenge to the younger generation to sustainably explore the rich biological resources of the region.

The symposium was intended to represent the North Eastern States with the expertise and experiences of forest officers, scientists, academicians, pharmaceuticals and herbal practitioners to document the medicinal plants wealth of the region with external input from national research institutions and laboratories. The NBRI and Society of Ethnobotanists have contributed valuable information on issue of ethnopharmacopia at the regional level.

There were a number of presentations followed by interactive sessions for comments, questions and answers, necessary clarifications and exchange of ideas and experiences for necessary inclusion in the proceedings of the symposium. Dr.A.K.Goel senior scientist of CSIR-NBRI presented lead paper on prospective of medicinal plants in the NE India; Dr.Virendra Nath presented the Ex situ conservation of medicinally and ethnobotanically important Bryophytes of Indiaand Dr.A.R.Sahoo presented the history of medicinal plants research in Orisa as distinguished lectures.

The Organizing Committee expresses our heartfelt gratitude to the Chief Executive Officer, National Medicinal Plants Board, New Delhi for sponsorship of financial assistance. We extend our sincere thanks to Dr. Kavita Tyagi, Consultant and other Staff of NMPB who have been instrumental to bring the symposium a success. We hope that this book will prove to be useful as a reference for future research work in the field of ethnobotany in the Northeast region of India.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages